|
The Irrelevance Of The Two-Nation Theory
The genesis of Pakistan's interference in Jammu and Kashmir lies in its claims that India was partitioned on the basis of religion and therefore the Muslim majority state of Jammu and Kashmir should be part of Pakistan. This pernicious two nation theory based on religious bigotry was thrown into the dustbin of history several decades ago.
The majority population of erstwhile East Pakistan seceded in 1971 despite commonalty of religion. Sectarian and ethnic riots between Sindhis, Punjabis, Pathans, Mohajirs or Muslim migrants from India are endemic in Pakistan. Pakistan refuses to accept the approximately 200,000 co-religionist Bihari Muslims currently in Bangladesh who have always considered themselves to be citizens of Pakistan.
In the partition of India, therefore, all that happened was that some Muslim majority areas of British India took the character of a separate political entity. The Indian States were left free to decide. The founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, had said on June 17, 1947 that the rulers of the States had the right to decide on accession. The ruler of Jammu and Kashmir chose to accede to India.
Author:M.L.Kotru
Back to HVK Home
|
